DO YOU STILL LOVE CLAIMS?

20 October 2011

It would be easy not to, given the
mud-slinging that's been going on recently; but since much of that
mud has emanated from a single source since September, we decided
to get the story from the horse's mouth. Read on for our reports
from I love Claims and The Claims Event where the Rt Hon Jack Straw
MP took centre stage.

The Claims Event on 12th October took on a
similar format and delegates were informed how Mr Straw intends to
push for referral fees to be made a criminal offence, and that the
trade in customer data should be similarly outlawed. He revealed
that the government will sit and rule on a bill before Christmas
which he said he was "extremely confident" would be carried.

However, with consensus beginning to grow a ban on referral fees
would not have the desired effect and
reduce motor insurance premiums on its own, whiplash
has emerged as Mr Straw's biggest grievance. He stated an ambition
to make it impossible to claim for injuries occurring under 15mph
unless legitimate tangible evidence is supplied.

Dr Simon Margolis, chief executive of Premex Group challenged
accusations made by Mr Straw in the House of Commons, about the
quality of medical evidence in personal injury, explaining that the
former Justice Secretary had failed to acknowledge how the modern
delivery of expert medical evidence is carried out: "I believe our
panel of experts would appreciate the opportunity to challenge Mr
Straw on this assertion and I invite him to do so at our
next
Expert Seminar at the Royal College of Physicians on
30th November. Premex Group undertakes work for
both sides of the industry with reports prepared by the same cohort
of medical experts irrespective of the source of the instruction -
claimant or defendant.

"The 'hired gun' to which I believe Mr Straw refers has been
largely eradicated by the Woolf reforms and medical reporting
agencies such as ourselves have introduced an unbiased,
professional approach to the delivery of medical evidence in the
personal injury process," continued Dr Margolis.

"Developing authoritative guidance on the diagnosis of an injury
is not a straightforward task. There is no blood test or imaging
modality currently in existence that can prove or disprove an
injury was sustained or whether symptoms are being experienced.
That is why a combination of the taking of a history and the laying
on of hands during clinical examination by a medical expert remains
the appropriate approach. Much can be learned from the general
demeanour of the claimant and the way the history is
delivered."